from Mercedes Magazine. Spring 2005.

The newest trend is children's rooms is design that's straightforward and streamlines--no frills, please. In a time when families are barraged with cartoon-character ads and relentless marketing campaigns, when big-box retailers offer thousands fo throwaway plastic producxts for kids, parents are seeking relief in minimal, enduring, and cleverly designed items for youngsters' rooms. ''Less is more'' is back in style. ''Quality children's products teach our kids about the standards we believe in,'' says Mark Woodbury, cofounder for Sparkability.com, one of several new Web sites that offer modern, well-crafted furniture and other items for children. ''The things we buy show children that they should save to get something worth havinig, as opposed to getting something of lesser quality right away.'' Woodbury launched the online store after he became frustrated by all the cheap, unispired items that he didn't want around his own kids. ''Children should know that beauty is for everybody,'' he insists. ''They deserve it in their everyday lives.'' Architect Lisa Mahar, founder and owner of the New York-based children's store Kid O...(cont'd)